7 big Dems turn on Biden over soft border policies

 A growing number of Democrats have turned on President Joe Biden over his policies at the Southern border, as the continuing migrant crisis brings chaos to cities across the country.

From Massachusetts to Arizona, The Post has noted seven prominent liberal politicians and one Independent office holder who now say the President needs to do more to stem the flow of migrants to American cities.

Most recently, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said her state has taken charge while the federal government has been missing in action, as she declared a state of emergency last week over the migrants crisis in her state.

“Massachusetts has stepped up to address what sadly has been a federal crisis of inaction that is many years in the making,” she said in her letter to feds.

With nearly 5,600 migrant families or more than 20,000 individuals currently in state shelter, including children and pregnant women, Healey also demanded the Biden administration pay for the expenses.

A Chicago politico challenged Biden to tour overrun migrant camps in the city, which The Post reported as one of the top five destinations in the US for migrants last week.

“I invite you to see firsthand what we are forced to do while waiting for [US Citizenship and Immigration Services] to take the steps necessary to move the needle on this crisis,” wrote Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez in an open letter to the commander in chief last month.

“This facility, along with the 11 shelters offering semi-permanent housing to the migrants and asylum-seekers, are pushing our city to the brink unnecessarily because of the lax response from Secretary Mayorkas and USCIS Director Jaddou.”

“They were ignoring this crisis that’s been going since Joe Biden took office,” according to Republican National Congressional Committee Spokeswoman Savannah Viar, who pushed back during a phone interview Monday.

President Joe Biden has repeatedly refused to admit there is a crisis at the border.

AP

“In Joe Biden’s American, every state is a border state. Now that their backyards have become the border because this crisis has gotten so out of hand under the Democrats, they’re now acting like they always supported securing the border.”

Viar pointed to New York City and Massachusetts’ own liberal laws requiring they provide shelter to migrants for exacerbating the border crisis and said they only have themselves to blame.

“They invited this into their own backyard by creating sanctuary cities so now, they need to put up,” she said.

“Now [sanctuary cities] are experiencing what the southern border cities, like El Paso, have been seeing for years now.”

New York Mayor Eric Adams went from saying he would welcome migrants with “open arms” a year ago, to claiming the federal government “turned its back” on the Big Apple as it grapples with a humanitarian crisis that could cost taxpayers $12 billion.

Mayor Eric Adams of New York said a year ago the city would welcome migrants “with open arms.”

William Farrington

“There is reason to hope that the plight of sanctuary mayors will put pressure on Pres. Biden,” Eric Ruark, Director of Research at NumbersUSA, told The Post.

“When a Republican speaks out, whether a mayor or a member of Congress, the response from the Biden Administration usually is, ‘They don’t understand what’s going on,’ or ‘They’re against immigration reform.'”

Adam’s insistence that the federal government pick up the tab for the migrants has resulted in a meeting with presidential top aide Tom Perez last week.

US Senator Mark Kelly (D) of Arizona said he has stood up to the president for his “dumb” policies.

Getty Images

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs steps away from the podium after delivering the Yuma version of her State of the State address.

AP/Randy Hoeft

US Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona also blasted the President’s “dumb” border policies, according to NBC.

That state’s governor, Democrat Katie Hobbs and Congressman Ruben Gallegos have aso been critical of Biden’s border policies in the recent months, according to the Washington Post, asking the president to send more help as the Grand Canyon state sees a huge surge in illegal border crossers.

The Tucson region, US Border Patrol have been encountering up to 1,900 migrants a day, more than double the number who were crossing in June, agency statistics reflect.

“D.C. has shown little regard for the actual crisis that’s occurring in Arizona,” Independent US Senator Kyrsten Sinema slammed the Biden Administration in May.

“We’ve paid the price for the federal government’s failure to fix our broken immigration system for most of my lifetime,” said US Senator Krysten Sinema in May of Biden’s border policies.

Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA

“We’ve paid the price for the federal government’s failure to fix our broken immigration system for most of my lifetime.”

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination for president, has also criticized Biden.

“We should have closed the border,” the political challenger said.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has also criticized Biden’s leadership.

REUTERS

Chicago Alderman Raymon Lopez challenged Pres. Biden to tour the city’s many migrant shelters.

TNS
Additionally, Biden has received criticism from other Democrats who believe his border security policies have gone too far and are keeping too many asylum seekers out.

In January, more than 70 liberal office holders sent Biden a letter criticizing his administration’s policies restricting asylum access for migrants crossing the southern border, reported NBC News.

The Democratic National Committee and Alderman Lopez did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.

https://nypost.com/2023/08/14/seven-prominent-democrats-turn-on-biden-over-soft-border-policies-federal-crisis-of-inaction/

U.S. diesel prices surge anticipating a soft landing

 Prices for diesel and other distillate fuel oils have surged as expectations for a soft landing and an improving economic outlook in the United States threaten to deplete already low inventories even further.

Futures prices for ultra-low sulphur diesel delivered in New York Harbor in September climbed to $135 per barrel on Aug. 9, up from $95 on May 31.

Prices for diesel and other distillate fuel oils have been rising much faster than for crude petroleum, widening margins for refiners.

Chartbook: U.S. diesel inventories and prices

The crack spread for making diesel from U.S. crude, with both delivered in September 2023, has doubled to $50 per barrel from $25 at the end of April.

The crack for making diesel from U.S. crude, with both delivered in December 2023, has climbed to $43 per barrel from $27 at the end of April.

Diesel prices are rising as traders anticipate that shortages will quickly re-emerge if the economy avoids falling into a recession later in 2023.

DEPLETED INVENTORIES

Distillate inventories have not recovered significantly despite the slowdown in manufacturing and freight activity evident since the middle of 2022.

U.S. inventories amounted to 115 million barrels on August 4, up from 111 million a year ago, but otherwise the lowest for the time of year since 2000.

Inventories were 24 million barrels (-17% or -1.31 standard deviations) below the prior ten-year seasonal average on Aug. 4, based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The deficit has widened rather than narrowed over the last five months from 12 million barrels (-9% or -0.73 standard deviations) on March 3 (“Weekly petroleum status report”, EIA, Aug. 9).

The distillate shortage is a worldwide phenomenon, with inventories also 33 million barrels (-8% or -1.11 standard deviations) below the 10-year average in Europe at the end of July.

Singapore stocks were 3 million barrels (-30% or -1.79) below the 10-year average in the course of July, so there is limited scope for resolving the deficits by moving inventories from one region to another.

REFINERY CAPACITY LIMITS

U.S. refineries are operating close to their maximum capacity and are also under pressure to maximise production of gasoline given low inventories of that fuel as well.

U.S. refineries were running at 93.8% of their maximum operable capacity over the seven days ending on Aug. 4, which was just 1.1 percentage points below the average over the last decade.

Technically, refiners might be able to boost crude processing by another 200,000 to 300,000 barrels per day but that would yield no more than an extra 60,000 to 120,000 barrels per day of distillate fuel oil.

In any event, refiners are under pressure to maximise gasoline output as well, where inventories are at the lowest season level since 2015, and 12 million barrels (-5% or -1.23 standard deviations) below the 10-year average.

HEDGE FUNDS ATTRACTED

Until three months ago, portfolio investors had become increasingly bearish on the outlook for distillate prices, anticipating a recession would cut consumption and cause inventories to accumulate.

By May 2, hedge funds and other money managers had amassed a combined net short position of 27 million barrels in U.S. diesel and European gas oil futures and options (6th percentile for all weeks since 2013).

Since then, however, fund managers have been purchasers in 11 out of the last 13 weeks, purchasing a total of 116 million barrels, as the threat of recession has receded and the risk of fuel shortages has re-emerged.

By Aug. 1, the combined position had been transformed to 89 million barrels net long (73rd percentile), according to records filed with ICE Futures Europe and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Position-building by hedge fund managers has anticipated, accelerated and amplified the rise in distillate prices and crack spreads and is speeding up the adjustment to the next phase of the cycle.

With much of the position-building concentrated in nearby futures contracts, where both liquidity and volatility are highest, futures contracts have already swung into a steep backwardation.

For U.S. diesel, the futures spread between September and December has moved into a backwardation of $8 per barrel up from a small contango at the start of May.

CANARY IN THE MINE

Diesel often acts as the "canary in the mine" for broader inflationary pressure in the economy because it is overwhelming consumed by trucking firms, railroads, manufacturers and construction firms.

The negligible accumulation of diesel and other distillate inventories implies the industrial recession may not have been as deep as other indicators such as business surveys have suggested since the middle of 2022.

As a result, the industrial economy is likely to emerge from the current business cycle slowdown with a relatively small amount of spare production capacity and working inventories.

The rapid escalation in diesel prices and hedge fund position building is a warning that capacity constraints and upward pressure on goods prices are likely to re-emerge relatively quickly later in 2023 and in 2024.

Depleted diesel inventories are a sign that if the economy achieves a mid-cycle soft-landing the second phase of the current expansion could prove short and inflationary.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rpt-column-u-diesel-prices-010000542.html

Catalent, facing pressure from Elliott, had other activists in stock

 Contract drugmaker Catalent, which is being pushed to make changes to its board by Elliott Investment Management, had at least two other activist investors in its stock at the end of the second quarter, according to new regulatory filings.

Keith Meister's Corvex Management and Scott Ferguson's Sachem Head Capital Management each disclosed buying Catalent stock in the second quarter and owning it on June 30.

The moves into Catalent follow a slump in its share price and a drop in revenue after it played a pivotal role in the rapid production of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Corvex initiated a new position in Catalent, buying 5.7 million shares during the second quarter, while Sachem Head purchased 662,000 shares during the quarter, also a new position for the fund.

Elliott, which owned a significant Catalent stake in the middle of July, has approached the company to suggest changes and has been speaking with executives who might be suitable to serve on Catalent's board, sources familiar with the matter said last month.

While Elliott is among the world's most prominent and busiest activist investors, both Corvex and Sachem Head have in the past targeted other companies and successfully lobbied for board seats.

Representatives for Corvex and Sachem Head declined to comment beyond the filings. The so-called 13-F filings detail what U.S. stocks investment managers own at the end of the quarter. The are made public with a delay and while backward looking, they are watched closely by investors for signs of possible trends.

Activist investors often do not know when rivals are circling a potential target, but since many look for similar characteristics to determine what makes an attractive investment, they can end up in the same stock.

Catalent's stock price closed at $45.29 on Monday, significantly below $110 where it traded a year ago.

During the pandemic, Catalent was contracted by several companies, including AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna, to fill vaccine vials at several of its plants in Europe and the United States.

But in June, after delaying results announcements three times, the company said revenue in the three months ending March 31 had fallen 19%. It cut its annual revenue forecast for the second time.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/catalent-facing-pressure-elliott-had-224228802.html

Design: Initial Results from Phase 1 Friedrich Ataxia Study Inconclusive

 Based on current methods and procedures, the treatment effect of DT-216 on FXN protein was inconclusive due to high intra-individual variability, consistent with what was seen in the observational study.

There was a transient increase of FXN mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) 24 hours after dose, which is consistent with and confirms the results from the Phase 1 single ascending dose study. As of this data cutoff, PBMC FXN protein results are not available.

DT-216 Program Next Steps
The initial results from Design’s Phase 1 multiple ascending dose trial underscore the promise of DT-216 as a potential disease-modifying treatment for FA.

The favorable systemic safety profile and FXN response support continued development of DT-216. However, the company has elected to complete dose escalation in this Phase 1 study at the 300mg cohort due to concern for potential worsening of injection site thrombophlebitis at higher doses with multiple administration. Design has shifted focus to developing DT-216 with an improved formulation to enable higher exposures and chronic intravenous administration for treatment of FA. Nonclinical studies showed that the injection site reactions were attributable to the excipients in the current DT-216 formulation, and that improving the formulation composition could enable higher doses and chronic administration. Design has since shown that an improved formulation had favorable injection site tolerability following multiple intravenous administrations and enabled dosing to increase tissue exposure.

The company is now conducting bridging nonclinical studies to resume clinical development and expects to begin a multiple-dose Phase 1 clinical trial to assess safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of an improved DT-216 formulation in the second half of 2024, with initial clinical data expected in the first half of 2025.

“Data from the Phase 1 program showed that the therapeutic hypothesis of DT-216 is playing out in FA patients —restoring endogenous transcription of FXN into therapeutically relevant levels,” said João Siffert, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Design Therapeutics. “The totality of the data from our Phase 1 program supports the continued development of DT-216 for FA, and we believe leveraging an improved formulation will enable us to explore the full DT-216 therapeutic potential for treatment of people with FA, which is our ultimate goal. Our team will continue to work tirelessly such that clinical development with DT-216 can be resumed and we can report data from a multiple dose Phase 1 clinical trial in the first half of 2025. I am proud of the Design team for its incredible efforts, and we extend our sincerest gratitude to the patients and caregivers participating in our clinical trials.”

Webcast and Conference Call Information
Design will host a live webcast and conference call today at 4:30 pm ET to discuss these updates. The event is accessible through the "Events" section of the Investors page of www.designtx.com. A replay of the webcast will be archived on the Design website for 30 days.

Dial-in information for conference participants may be obtained by registering for the event here.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/design-therapeutics-reports-initial-results-200100604.html

UChicago Report Finds 30 M American View Violence As Justified To Keep Trump From Power

 by Jonathan Turley,

I recently asked, in light of the free speech implications of the second federal Trump indictment, when the price is too high for those who seek to jail the former president.

The chilling answer is found in a new report out of the University of Chicago showing that almost 12 percent of the population, representing 30 million people, believe that violence is warranted to prevent Trump from assuming the presidency. That is almost double the number who believe that violence is warranted to ensure that Trump does become president.

As discussed in The Guardian, the Chicago Project on Security & Threats survey found many Americans are embracing violence as an option for political change.

We have watched as rage has risen in the country. It is often celebrated by one side or the other. I previously discussed how a scene like the recent confrontation on the floor of the Tennessee House perfectly captured our “age of rage.” Protesters filled the capitol building to protest the failure to pass gun-control legislation. Three Democratic state representatives — Justin Jones from Nashville, Justin Pearson from Memphis, and Gloria Johnson of Knoxville — were unwilling to yield to the majority. They disrupted the floor proceedings with a bullhorn and screaming at their colleagues.

It is a scene familiar to many of us in academia, where events are regularly canceled by those who shout down others.

The three members yelled “No action, no peace” and “Power to the people” as their colleagues objected to their stopping the legislative process. Undeterred, the three refused to allow “business as usual” to continue.

Nobel Laureate Albert Camus once said, “Insurrection is certainly not the sum total of human experience but … it is our historic reality.” Those words came to mind when Tennessee’s House of Representatives expelled two members accused of disrupting legislative proceedings in what some called an “insurrection” or a “mutiny.”

Only a few days before the Tennessee House floor fight, a confrontation occurred off the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington which captured perfectly this new political reality.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) was shown on videotape screaming about gun control in the Capitol as his colleagues left the floor following a vote. Various Democratic members, including former House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), tried to calm Bowman. However, when Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) asked Bowman to stop yelling, Bowman shouted back: “I was screaming before you interrupted me” — which could go down as the epitaph for our age.

The problem is that political figures on both sides are attempting to harness this rage.  They are playing a dangerous game. Trump’s inflammatory tweets are an example. Likewise, former Democratic National Committee deputy chair Keith Ellison, now the Minnesota attorney general, once said Antifa would “strike fear in the heart” of Trump. This was after Antifa had been involved in numerous acts of violence and its website was banned in Germany. His son, Minneapolis City Council member Jeremiah Ellison, declared his allegiance to Antifa as riots raged in his city last summer.

Unleashing such rage is difficult to control and often those leading the mob find themselves later pursued by it. This is why, during the French Revolution, the journalist Jacques Mallet Pan warned, “Like Saturn, the revolution devours its children.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/age-rage-uchicago-report-finds-30-million-american-view-violence-justified-keep-trump

RFK Jr Confirms He Supports Abortions Up to Birth With No Limits

 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confused voters over the weekend with conflicting statements about abortion, but ultimately confirmed he supports abortions up to birth with no limits.

Kennedy, who hopes to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic Party nomination, has not spoken much about abortion. His campaign portrays him as a political moderate who hopes to reunite Americans and end the growing political division.

But the Democrat and presidential hopeful initially gave an interview with NBC News in which he said he supported killing babies in abortions but opposes abortions after viability, when an unborn baby can live on his or her own outside the womb.

“I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life,” Kennedy said an in interview at an event in Iowa.

Asked whether he would sign a ban on abortions at 15 or 21 weeks, Kennedy said yes.

“Once a child is viable, outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting the child,” he continued, adding “I’m for medical freedom. Individuals are able to make their own choices.”

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That initial answer earned him praise from the pro-life group SBA List for at least being less radically pro-abortion than Joe Biden, who supports abortions up to birth without limits, calling it “a stark contrast to the Democratic Party’s radical stance of abortion on demand. … Kennedy is one of the few prominent Democrats aligned with the consensus of the people today. Every candidate should be asked, ‘Where do you draw the line?’”

But the Kennedy campaign very quickly corrected the record and confirmed Kennedy support abortions up o birth without limits.

“Mr. Kennedy misunderstood a question posed to him by an NBC reporter in a crowded, noisy exhibit hall at the Iowa State Fair,” a campaign representative said in an email to LifeNews.

“Mr. Kennedy’s position on abortion is that it is always the woman’s right to choose. He does not support legislation banning abortion,” the email added.

That statement is consistent with the position Kennedy has said previously during the campaign. In June, Kennedy Jr. confirmed he supports killing unborn babies in abortions.

Responding to a voter’s question, Kennedy said he is “pro-choice” and supports “bodily autonomy,” WMUR 9 News reports.

“The only thing I can say to you on that issue is that I’m pro-choice,” Kennedy said when asked for a reason why pro-life voters should support him. “I don’t think there’s anybody in this country who’s worked harder for medical freedom, for bodily autonomy than me.”

His campaign made a similar comment to Newsweek in May.

Kennedy “believes strongly in the principle of bodily autonomy, whether the issue is abortion or medical mandates,” the spokesperson said. “He will keep government away from women’s childbearing choices. The moral issues are best left to the woman, her family and her religious community.”

Typically, this means a candidate supports laws that allow unborn babies to be aborted for any reason up to birth, without limits.

SBA Pro-Life’s Marjorie Dannenfelser says abortions up to birth is out of step with Americans.

“Seven in 10 Americans, including millions of rank-and-file Democrats, support limiting abortion to the first three months of pregnancy at most. A solid majority agrees Congress should act to protect babies when science shows they feel pain at 15 weeks. While pro-life advocates ultimately want every child protected under our laws, Kennedy is one of the few prominent Democrats aligned with the consensus of the people today. Every candidate should be asked, ‘Where do you draw the line?’

“Pro-life Americans are looking for a national defender of life who will boldly champion unborn children and women and work to gather support in Congress. Voters deserve clarity about where every candidate stands on the human rights issue of our time.”

Kennedy’s campaign website does not mention specific abortion policy, but it does attempt to take a more moderate approach to the issue. The website suggests “dead fetuses” are a tragedy and acknowledges that pro-lifers have a “legitimate moral position.” It also promises Kennedy will listen to pro-lifers’ concerns.

“Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has clear positions on most of today’s divisive trigger issues like abortion, guns, and immigration, but he knows that both sides have legitimate concerns and legitimate moral positions,” it states. “No one is deplorable.”

It continues: “Few relish the thought of dead fetuses, nor do they want to force women to have unwanted babies. … [Kennedy] will model careful listening, and create conditions where each group can hear the stories of the other. He will lead the way toward national reconciliation, respectful dialog, and willingness to change, to grow and to forgive.”

Kennedy is a lawyer and the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy.

https://www.lifenews.com/2023/08/14/robert-f-kennedy-jr-confirms-he-supports-abortions-up-to-birth-with-no-limits/

Dr. Paul, Sen. Wyden, Bipartisan Senators Reintroduce the 4th Amendment is Not For Sale Act

 Recently, U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), reintroduced the Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act in the U.S. Senate, following the bill’s unanimous passage in the House Judiciary Committee last week.

The bill, first introduced in 2021, blocks the government from purchasing information about Americans that would otherwise require a warrant.

The bill is cosponsored by Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Mike Lee (R-UT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Jon Tester (D-MT).

“The Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure ensures that the liberty of every American cannot be violated on the whims, or financial transactions, of every government officer,” said Dr. Paul. “This critical legislation will put an end to the government’s practice of buying its way around the Bill of Rights by purchasing the personal and location data of everyday Americans. Enacting the Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act will not only stop this gross abuse of privacy, but also stands for the fundamental principle that government exists to protect, not trade away, individual rights.”

“Americans of all political stripes know their Constitutional rights shouldn’t disappear in the digital age. The bipartisan Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act puts protections against government agencies purchasing their data into black-letter law,” said Sen. Wyden. “Even during one of the most polarized political environments of my lifetime, the House Judiciary Committee passed our bill on a unanimous vote. There is a deep well of support for bolstering Americans’ privacy, and I will look for every available avenue to advance protections for Americans’ personal data, both in this bill and omnibus surveillance legislation this fall.”

Reps. Warren Davidson (R-OH), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Ken Buck (R-CO), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Thomas Massie(R-KY), and Sara Jacobs (D-CA), cosponsored the legislation in the House.

The Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act would:

• Requires the government to get a court order to compel data brokers to disclose data — the same kind of court order needed to compel data from tech and phone companies.
• Stops law enforcement and intelligence agencies buying data on people in the U.S. and about Americans abroad, if the data was obtained from a user’s account or device, or via deception, hacking, violations of a contract, privacy policy, or terms of service, preventing the government from buying data from Clearview.AI.
• Extends existing privacy laws to infrastructure firms that own data cables & cell towers.
• Closes loopholes that would permit the intelligence community to buy or otherwise acquire metadata about Americans’ international calls, texts and emails to family and friends abroad, without any FISA Court review.
• Takes away the Attorney General’s authority to grant civil immunity to providers and other third parties for assistance with surveillance not required or permitted by statute. Providers retain immunity for surveillance assistance ordered by a court.

You can read the full bill text HERE. A summary is available HERE.

https://www.paul.senate.gov/dr-paul-sen-wyden-and-bipartisan-senators-reintroduce-the-fourth-amendment-is-not-for-sale-act/